Indian National Cadet Corps (NCC) personnel from the recently formed southern Indian state of Telangana take part in a full dress rehearsal for the 68th Independence day celebrations at Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad on Wednesday

An Israeli child holds a rocket launcher as another holds her doll during a traditional military weapon display to mark the 66th anniversary of Israel’s Independence at the West Bank settlement of Efrat on Tuesday.

Students, their faces painted with the colours of the Indian national flag, prepare for Independence Day in Allahabad on Wednesday. India celebrates its 66th independence anniversary from British rule on Thursday

Students wait their turn to perform national songs at a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan’s 67th Independence Day at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, on Wednesday. The country gained independence from British rule in 1947.

Belarus teenagers take part in a rehearsal of the Independence Day parade in Minsk, on Tuesday. Belarus celebrates Independence Day on Wednesday, an official holiday marking the day in 1944 when the Red Army liberated Minsk from Nazi troops during the second world war.

A boy watches Israeli Air Force CH-53 helicopters fly over the Mediterranean Sea on a Tel Aviv beach during an aerial show forming part of celebrations for Israel’s Independence Day on April 16 2013, marking the 65th anniversary of the creation of the state.